Quantification of Calabrian climate in southern Primory'e, Far East of Russia — An integrative case study using multiple proxies

Abstract

Early Pleistocene climate dynamics in the Russian Far East (southern Primory'e) is studied using multiple quantitative techniques on various palaeobotanical organ types. Climate data of the time were obtained from a total of 8 macrofloras (fruits and seeds, woods, and leaves) and 18 microfloras collected from a 10m thick, terrigenous succession exposed in the Pavlovskoe brown coal field. According to magnetostratigraphy, the studied section covers the last 200kyr of the Calabrian and comprises the early/late Pleistocene transition, a crucial time-span involving the transition from obliquity-forced cyclicity to the strong, eccentricity triggered glacial events. In this first integrative study on palaeoclimate of the Russian Far East, we employ Growth Ring Analysis, Multivariate Anatomical Analysis, Leaf Margin Analysis, Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program, and Coexistence Approach on the different organs, partly originating from the same layer.The investigation documents the following important outcomes: 1) Climate data obtained from the various methods are proven to be largely consistent. 2) The late Calabrian of the southern Primory'e was characterized by overall cooling and drying. Our climate record displays 2 small scale cycles. Warm peaks (at 19.4–19.8 and 14.0–14.8m) are tentatively correlated to the global isotope stages MIS 25 and MIS 21, respectively. 3) In the warm phases, the Calabrian climate of southern Primory'e was significantly warmer and wetter when compared to the present, especially regarding the cold season while in cold phases, climate was similar to modern or event slightly cooler. 4) As of today, Early Pleistocene climate of southern Primory'e was warmer and wetter than neighboring areas of the south RFE. 5) The effect of the East Asian Monsoon Systems on the climate of the southern Primory'e was less pronounced compared to the present.